


Kick-Ass Jim!

by MoogieMan



Category: The Office (US)
Genre: #jimgetstough, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 10:54:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11988336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoogieMan/pseuds/MoogieMan
Summary: Jim finds Pam drunk and with another man.  Surprisingly, he goes a little OOC, and gets mad and outspoken. He loves Pam, but realizes that if they are going to make it, some serious changes have to be made.





	Kick-Ass Jim!

**Author's Note:**

> Jim loves Pam so much. Then he goes to see her in the middle of the night, unannounced! His mild attitude does a 180.

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He almost changed his mind twelve times. Once he even pulled into a rest stop off the highway and parked in the shadow of the little building that housed the bathrooms to think it through. I'm not that guy, the rational part of his brain told him. We're not that couple. It was easy to think it, harder to give it the credence it deserved. He kept seeing Roy's expression, his knowing (and possibly calculated, if you held to the belief that Roy had the mental capacity to manipulate) proclamation: "Wow."  
Wow? Was it really a wow kind of thing? So she was going out a lot. Drinking a lot. She'd made lots of friends, that was a good thing. Jim wanted nothing more than for her to be happy, to wring every drop out of this experience because it's what she wanted. And at the end of it all, she come back to Scranton. Back home. Back to him.(Readers Note: Jim’s attitude and letting Pam do whatever she wanted contributed to her lack of responsibility)  
Really, maybe his sudden decision to hit the road had nothing at all to do with Roy's blunt implications. Maybe he just wanted to see her, was that so weird? He hadn't seen her in two weeks and he missed her. He just wanted to hold her, kiss her, hear her laughter so he could bring it back with him in preparation for another long week with Ryan at reception and a hole in his heart.  
He was not checking up on her.  
It occurred to him at some point not far from his exit that that particular assertion would hold more water if he had called to tell her he was coming.  
So he wanted to surprise her, so what? He liked to surprise her. She got that goofy grin and her eyes went all shiny and it made him melt.  
Still, maybe he should call …  
Too late. He parked as close to her building as he could get and went inside. He knocked several times and waited with dimming anticipation as he realized she wasn't home. He checked his watch. 11:32 p.m. Was this the same girl who had told him not very long ago that she was trying to get to bed by 8?  
He used the key she'd given him and went into her dorm room. It was dark and chilly. He lay down on her bed, stretching his legs out (this couldn't be a standard-size mattress; his calves hung off the end) and staring up at the water stains on the ceiling. Surely she'd come back soon, and he'd be here and she'd be surprised and happy to see him.  
He was startled awake by the sound of giggles and voices echoing in the hallway and the sound of a key scraping against a lock.  
"I could get it in if the doorknob would stop moving!" Pam's voice proclaimed. Tipsy, indeed.  
Then another voice, a male voice. "I know, it's crazy. Here, can I help?"  
"Sure, if you think you're smarter than this doorknob, go for it."  
Jim sat up as the key slid into the lock. He stared dumbly at the door, his stomach suddenly in knots. He knew he had tolerated her escapades and now - the reality.  
"Yay you!" Pam bubbled at her companion, stumbling into the room. "You got it in! THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!"  
The light seemed to explode from above as the guy with Pam flipped the switch. His eyes immediately met Jim's across the room, but Pam was too busy laughing at her own joke to notice him. Jim cleared his throat, and she spun around.  
"Jim! Oh my God!" In a flash, his lap was full of Pam, warm and soft, smelling lightly of fruity martinis and secondhand smoke. He held her and forced a smile, his eyes drifting momentarily back to the guy hovering awkwardly in the doorway.  
"Hey, man," he said, raising a hand in a semblance of a wave.  
"Jim glared. “Who are you?”

"Oh yeah! Sorry, Jared, this is my Jim; Jim, this is my best Pratt friend Jared. He keeps me honest."  
The two of them laughed ; Jim just stared. "What does that mean?"  
"Let's just say this one has a wild side when she gets one too many Cosmos in her."  
"And what does that mean?” Jim repeated, , coldly, ”You seem to know more about my fiancee's drinking than I do. I am not ok with that.”  
The giggling stopped. “Jim, are you ok?” “yeah, I just wanna know what being honest means, I mean if I this guy wasn't there, what happens? Do you drink too much, kiss other guys I mean What is he doing here? A re you getting drunk every night?”  
"Well, I better head back to the group. I'm sure you guys want some time alone," Best Pratt Friend Jared said. “Wait," Jim yelled " I am not done. Pam, I come here and you are out getting drunk with this guy, and it sounds like a regular thing and I know nothing about any of this?” I mean you can go, but I think Pam’s partying may be over. Anyway, she is my fiancee, Did you know that? Messing around with another guy’s girl is inviting a serious ass whipping. You stay away from her, got it?  
Jared made no reply. He looked upset and rather guilty.  
Pam extracted herself from Jim's embrace and crossed the room to Jared in three stumbling steps. "Thanks for walking me home," she said, throwing her arms around his neck. He started to hug back, but stopped.  
"Anytime, Beesly," Jared said, making Jim's blood pound harder through his temples. ”I call her Beesly, not you. Maybe we need a little talk right now!” Jim started walking towards Jared. Pam let go and ran to stop Jim.  
"Jim!” Pam, in her drunken stupor, started to realize what was going on .  
“I'm guessing you don't have a girl. Jim said. "I'll take it from here. Find someone else from now on or you and I will have a little talk?”  
“Jim, he’s just helping out!”  
“Bullshit! If you were 200 lbs, or had a big nose, your “Best Pratt Friend wouldn't be here,:

When the door closed behind Jared, Pam turned back toward Jim, her cheeks brightly flushed and that shine in her eyes that he had envisioned on his way here—though this shine was due more to vodka than surprise.  
"What are you doing here?" she asked. "I mean, I'm thrilled you're here, but … why in the middle of the night? Why didn't you call?"  
"I wanted to see you."\ and the question is what are you doing? As far as calling you seem to have a lot to hide ,, ignoring her question.  
"I've missed you too. A lot."  
“Don't change the subject, Pam.”  
She frowned, studying his face closely, and traced a finger over his lips. "Why are you acting this way?’" she asked.  
He looked at her, but said nothing.  
"This fake smile you're giving me. What's wrong, Jim?"  
He shook his head. " “You are drunk. We’re not going to discuss this tonight. You need some sleep; don't you have your eight o'clock tomorrow?"  
"What do you mean nothing we're going to discuss? So there is something. Jim, tell me."  
" I think you know."  
"What does that mean? Jim, you're scaring me."  
He moved toward the end of the bed and started taking his shoes off. "Pam? I love that you're here with me, right now, and that you're safe and that you have people around to keep you that way because you make some stupid choices sometimes., that ispeople not trying to get in your pants” I love you."  
"I love you too, Jim. What's—"  
He put a finger against her lips, cutting her off. "But right now I'm a little bent out of shape, and I don't think it's something we should talk about while you're drunk and I'm angry."  
"You're angry?"  
"A little bit, yeah. Didn’t you get my talk with your buddy?”  
Her brow furrowed. " Not completely. I have had a few,”?"  
"I didn't come here to fight with you."  
"But you did come here. For the first time ever without telling me you were coming. Why?"  
"Let's just go to sleep. Tomorrow we can meet for breakfast after your early class and we'll talk it out, okay? Things will be easier in the morning."  
"Are you … you're not upset about Jared are you?"  
" Yeah, I am. I don't remember you ever telling me about him before."  
"He's a friend."  
"He's your best Pratt friend. He keeps you honest." Jim couldn't stop the sarcasm from bleeding through in his tone.  
She sat bolt upright, the already-high color in her cheeks brightening even more. "You're jealous!" she accused. "You think something's going on between him and me?"  
" God! No!But what’s he doing here alone with you?” He forced his volume down. "No. I trust you, Pam. I don't know if I trust Jared, . Did you see the guilty look on his face. He knew he shouldn’t be here.”  
"I trust Jared. He walks me home just about every night and he's never made a move, ever."  
" What are you doing out every night?” I mean give the man a gold medal. How many times has he refrained from seducing you when you're sloppy drunk?"  
"Her mouth fell open, and she looked at him as if he'd slapped her.  
:"Jim sighed in frustration and ran his hands through his already disheveled hair. "Pam. I didn’t come here to fight"  
"I didn't start it," she said. "You're the one who's angry."  
"So what did start it. Maybe you getting drunk, and hanging all over that asshole, right in my face’ What if it was me with some girl? I'm going to go to sleep, and you're going to go to sleep, and tomorrow we can talk like rational people. Like Jim and Pam. Okay? This is getting blown out of proportion."  
"Jim" …" He looked up at her and was dismayed to see there were tears standing in her eyes. Another kind of shine, one he never wanted to see. "It's not easy. Being here, being away from home. Away from you. I miss you so much sometimes it's hard to breathe. So I lose myself in the people I've met here, the ones who are nice and funny and help me to feel less alone. Is that so terrible?"  
" " Let’s see, you miss me so much, you have to get drunk every night with some funny college kids, and not tell me about it."  
"You trust me, Jim, I know you do. This isn't you."  
“I don’t know, tonight is a lot to swallow.”  
"

"I ran into Roy tonight. I was hanging out with the warehouse guys and he just showed up. He … I don't know, Pam, he just sort of got under my skin. I let him get under my skin. And that's why I'm really here. I’m sorry, but you do have to answer some questions.”  
A couple of tears spilled down her cheeks and she was silent for a few moments, looking into his earnest eyes. "You know me, Jim. You know my heart."  
“I thought I did, but tonight, drunk., Jared.  
And I know yours."  
"Yes. Because I believe we have to be truthful, and the whole truth. Can you handle that?”  
She moved closer. "Don't forget anymore.”  
"Me?” I’m not the one drunk with a new “Best Friend”  
" If you start to forget you talk to me. You don't get lost in your head. You don't come to check up on me  
“Whoa, After tonight? I’ll tell you how to avoid getting checked on, No drunkenness, no parties that I don’t know about absolutely no Jared! He wants in your pants! II am not asking you to do anything I  
am not doing, Check on me anytime, I have nothing to hide.

"Promise me, Jim. Trust is who we are. It's us. Are we clear?"  
"Easy to say. Can you make it happen? Jim  
whispered huskily, lying her back down on the bed and bracing himself above her. "I I love you Pam Beesly…..but!”  
" But what?I love you, Jim Halpert."  
And there, on her too-small dorm bed, they slipped back in step with one another.  
PS Talk is cheap. I don’t see Pam changing. Jim needs to find Karen’s phone number!

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**Author's Note:**

> When Pam sobers up, they at have problems, Will he stand his ground?


End file.
